This invention relates to mating electrical connectors that each include mating terminals. More particularly these connectors are blind mate connectors in which mating alignment members align the mating terminals before the terminals come into contact to prevent damage to the terminals during mating. A mechanical assist member is also employed to overcome the mating forces that are in large part due to the large number of terminals in the two connectors.
Blind mating connectors in which one of the connector is free to laterally float to align the connectors for mating are commonly used in many applications. Mechanically assisted connectors are probably more common because the force to mate many high count connectors is greater than that recommended for hand assembly. However, the prior art does not appear to include any mechanically assisted blind mating connectors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,098 discloses one version of a blind mating electrical connector assembly. That connector employs an alignment post centrally located in a printed circuit board header with a plurality of pin terminals surrounding the alignment post. A frame having a cavity into which the alignment post can be inserted is mounted in a panel cutout which permits limited lateral movement of the frame during alignment. Two electrical connectors terminated to wires are mounted in the frame and mutual engagement between the alignment post and the frame cavity aligns the header pins with receptacle terminals located in the connector housings mounted in the frame. However, this connector does not include any means for mechanically assisting or amplifying the force available to mate the two header to the two plug connectors mounted in the frame.
Conversely, U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,045 discloses another connector that employs a bolt or jackscrew as a mechanical assist member for mating two connectors, but the two connectors cannot be blind mated in any reliable manner. In this prior art connector the bolt is located in a plug connector which is then attached to a printed circuit board header located in a module that is attached to a fixed structure. Any necessary alignment can therefore be easily accomplished by the installer. Although bolt mounted connector assemblies are quite common, conventional connectors of this type do not provide for blind mating or for significant float of a connector mounted in a panel opening.
High count electrical connectors containing a relatively large number of terminals require higher mating forces than connectors having only a few mating terminals. Connectors employing contacts with a relatively high current carrying capacity or requiring high mating forces or significant wiping action further increase the mating force. These high count connectors are typically used to connect wire harnesses or to connect wires in a wire harness to an external component. When the mating force is too great for manual assembly, some form of mechanical assistance is necessary.
The installation of electrical components and harnesses in automotive applications frequently require a large number of terminals to be mounted in a single connector housing to form high count connectors or as part of multicomponent chunks. Overall assembly is simplified by reducing the number of electrical connectors that must be connected and by reducing the number of connectors that must be assembled, hopefully the number of wiring errors can be reduced.
In a number of automotive applications, one of the connectors is mounted in a panel and this previously mounted connector must be free to float when mated with a second connector or with a electrical component or subassemblies. This often requires blind mating of the connectors. For example, automotive applications in which it is often desirable to include a blind mating capability for electrical connector assemblies include connector assemblies used in door trim panels, floor consoles and headliners. One reason for permitting a panel mount connector typically used in these applications to float during mating is the difficulty of precisely positioning such panel mount connectors in assemblies where assembly tolerances must be kept as large as possible so that the assembly will be relatively uncomplicated.
A principal object of this invention is to combine both blind mating and mechanical assist capabilities in the same electrical connector. However, this combination must be accomplished in a manner that will prevent damage to free standing terminal pins in one of the connectors during mating. Damage can occur when the two connectors are skewed when initially mated and the plug connector scoops or bends the ends of the free standing pins. The instant invention accomplishes these and other objectives without resorting to complicated configurations that would not be suitable for use in automotive applications.
These objections can be realized by an electrical connector assembly comprising first and second electrical connectors. One of these connectors is mounted in a panel such that the one electrical connector floats in both an X and a Y direction. A male alignment member on one of these electrical connectors, either the one mounted in the panel or the mating connector. A female alignment member is located in the other electrical connector. The male and female alignment members are matable such that, during mating of the male and female alignment members the electrical connector mounted on the panel is free to move in an X and a Y direction into alignment with the other electrical connector. The electrical connector assembly includes an opening extending through the male alignment member for receipt of mechanical assist means for applying additional mating force to assist mating of the first and second electrical connectors. Typically a bolt is employed as the mechanical assist member. Both the male alignment post or protrusion and the alignment cavity in the other connector are located in the center of terminal arrays in the two mating connectors.